This invention relates generally to polymer-based coatings and more particularly to non bio-adhesive polymer-based coatings.
The aim of applying coatings is to improve surface properties of an object. Coatings can affect physical properties of various materials depending upon the chemical composition of the coating materials. Such properties include, but are not limited to, adhesion, corrosiveness, scratch resistance, wash resistance, waterproof, and color proof. Advances in coating chemistry have increased the quality, specificity (such as hydrophobicity) and compatibility of coatings with various objects and their use in various applications. For example, silicone resins are used for durable hydrophobic surface coatings. In another example, surface modification of polyester fibers is carried out by plasma polymerization coating technique using hexamethyldisiloxane to form a high water-repellency and super-hydrophobic coating.
Antibacterial coatings for medical devices have long been needed in biomedical and biological applications. For example, antibacterial coatings are used in connection with cell and tissue culture applications, in devices for cell based and protein based assays, in medical devices such as injectable cell delivery vehicles, in CT or MR machines, in surgical devices, in devices for immunoisolation-based therapies and in other in vitro or in vivo usages.
Cell-based assays have become an integral part of drug screening in the pharmaceutical industry. These assays are useful in evaluating potential drug targets by functionally characterizing the effects of drugs on cells, and in assessing specificity and efficacy of drug leads to identify potential targets for drugs and also to determine the mechanism of action of that drug to identify its target. There is an increasing need for high throughput cell-based assays in the functional exploration of genomes and also for analyzing phenotypes associated with genome functionality. Cell microarrays provide an attractive solution while providing a slide for at least 5000-6000 spots, which enables a genome-wide screen on only a few slides. Therefore, cell microarray would increase the throughput significantly, while at the same time minimizing the use of expensive reagents and scarce biological samples such as rare cells. However, adherent cells have a tendency to expand over the available surrounding surface and cause cross contamination over other neighboring spots. Therefore, to spot cells in high-density cell growth on slides or plates is becoming a challenge for biologists. A successful mechanism for the prevention of cross-contamination of cells and DNA between adjacent colonies or DNA spots has not yet been successfully implemented. A non bio-adhesive coating on slides may help to maintain cells on one particular spot and render high-density cell array feasible. Therefore, an emerging need in various areas of biology and medicine is the development of cell culture support, equipment for cell-based assays and cell microarrays and devices for medical purposes, that are resistant to contamination. Therefore, it would be highly desirable to develop a biocompatible non bio-adhesive coating for use in such applications.